


Be My Valentine?

by subtlehysteria



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Hurt and comfort, I'm terrible at romantic stuff but yeah, M/M, Some angst, they/them pronouns for Pidge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 05:30:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13675224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/subtlehysteria/pseuds/subtlehysteria
Summary: The overhead lights blinked on, causing dots to dance across Lance’s vision. Once his eyes had adjusted, Lance slowly peaked over the edge of his bed. He looked down hesitantly only to find flower petals.Hundreds of them.“What the…”Its Keith's and Lance's one year anniversary/Valentine's Day. Lance is not prepared.





	Be My Valentine?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! So, I wrote this all in one go yesterday because I'm posting a chapter in my Klance Treasure Planet fic (By The Stars) that's really sad today and decided that this would make up for that ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ This is messy and probably doesn't make sense but yeah. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> PS Happy Valentine's to all the singles, you deserve all the love in the world <3

The first thing Lance noticed was the smell.

For a moment, he thought he was back home, nestled under his favourite Oaktree in his mother’s garden. She had bushes upon bushes of Mariposa flowers, so much so that when they bloomed it looked as if it had snowed overnight, littering the garden in one long sheet of pure white. As soon as he stepped out into the garden his head would spin with the scent of lemon-ginger. It was Lance's favourite smell besides a salty sea breeze.

He breathed in deeply, relishing in the smell. When he opened his eyes, though, he was in his room on the Castle Ship. Lance frowned in confusion. He must have been dreaming again… He reached over to his bedside table for his phone, checking the time.

The second thing Lance realised as he read 0900 Varga off his phone was that his alarm hadn’t gone off.

“Shit. Shit shit shit.”

He was supposed to wake up early. He had to if he wanted to get dressed and ready in time!

Lance flung his covers off, swinging his legs around so his feet could slide into his blue lion slippers like he did every morning. Instead, he was met with something cold and squidgy.

Lance, startled, hiked his feet back up to the safety of his mattress with a small squeak.

“Lights on!”

The overhead lights blinked on, causing dots to dance across Lance’s vision. Once his eyes had adjusted, Lance slowly peaked over the edge of his bed. He looked down hesitantly at the soft squishy stuff his feet had touched (he was expecting something along the lines of food goo or space sludge) only to find that they were flower petals.

Hundreds of them.

“What the…”

Lance shuffled out of bed, managing to find his slippers now that the lights were on. He slipped them on, along with his silk robe, all the while staring at the sea of flower petals scattered across his floor. A path had been carved out among them, leading to the sliding door.

Lance walked slowly, admiring the flowers. They weren’t his mother’s Mariposas, although the smell was spectacularly similar. He knelt down, picking up a petal for observation. It was a soft ruby red with navy blue tips, the two colours fading into each other through a deep plum purple. Lance pocketed it before standing up and walking through the door.

The petal path continued all the way down the hall, the smell of lemon-ginger hanging in the air. It wasn’t heavy or overbearing like lilies or roses, but rather subtle, a hint of a scent, just enticing enough to make you want more.

It led, surprisingly, to the observatory. Lance stepped through the doorway and immediately came to a stop.

“Hey.”

Keith was standing in the middle of the room along with a table that was decked up with a white tablecloth and a small centerpiece made up of the same flowers that were strewn across Lance’s floor. Keith looked… amazing. He was wearing his usual colours: black and red, although instead of his black shirt he wore a wine-red buttondown shirt, his jeans looking freshly washed. Not a wrinkle was in sight. His hair was tied back in a ponytail Lance refused to admit that he adored, especially since Keith had started growing his hair out.

“Uh,” Lance said, oh-so-eloquently.

“Have a seat,” Keith said, pulling out a chair.

Lance walked over slowly, allowing Keith to push in his chair for him. Lance didn’t really know what to do with himself. He felt like he was in another reality… again. Although instead of evil Alteans, Keith was being… being… well… not-Keith but also Keith?

A plate was pushed under Lance’s nose and he was overwhelmed with how _good_ it smelled. It was stacked with pancakes, but not just any pancakes. Shark-shaped pancakes.

Keith pulled up the chair opposite Lance, placing his own plate down in front of him. A small pitcher of what looked like syrup was already on the table along with two sets of knives and forks.

“Lance?”

Lance blinked slowly, trying to take all of it in.

“Lance… are you okay?”

Lance turned to Keith who was looking at him with wide worried eyes. The colour of his shirt made the indigo in his eyes pop.

“Am I dreaming?” Lance whispered.

Keith blinked in surprise, his brows furrowing. “I hope not,” he said.

This didn’t make any sense. Lance was the over-the-top romantic. Lance was the one who gushed about flower petals and chocolates and breakfast in bed. He felt so out of his element.

“Why did you do all of this?” It sounded so bad once he heard himself say it out loud.

_Idiot._

Keith shrunk a little, a frown pulling at his lips. “Well… I mean, it’s technically Valentine’s Day slash our anniversary… So, I thought –”

Keith tapered off. He ducked his head, causing his over-grown bangs to fall across his eyes. They created a curtain of inky blue-black to hide behind. His hands fidgeted in his lap, knee bouncing in an unsteady rhythm.

It reminded Lance of that day, one year ago, where all hell had broken loose.

 

§

 

**ONE YEAR EARLIER**

 

They were all sitting at the dining table in different states of consciousness. Zarkon had been defeated nearly six months ago, although that didn’t mean that Voltron was no longer needed. There were still planets under Galra control, those too stubborn and thick-headed to realise that they were on the losing side. Allura had chalked it up to the fact that the Galra had become complacent with their ten-thousand-year-rule and were not used to being opposed. So, the last two weeks had seen the paladins flying to and fro between galaxies – helping to free three neighbouring planets in the span of thirty-six Vargas at one point. And then, of course, there were the diplomatic meetings, keeping up with the Blade as well as maintaining and growing the Coalition.

Having Keith back did help, though.

When he first came back to the Castle it was under the guise to act as a go-between for the Blade and Voltron. Allura and Antok had discussed Keith’s actions during the Naxzela plan and decided it would be best for Keith to slowly shift back into team Voltron. There was no other way to go about it, Keith refused to speak of what he’d been planning to do. Even Shiro couldn’t get through to him.

“We’ll just have to wait him out,” Shiro had said. Over the last two years, frown lines had started burrowing their way onto his face, making the young man look even older than he already appeared.

“That’s not good enough!” Lance had argued. He didn’t know it back then. He didn’t know why he felt so strongly about Keith, about his safety and how he was doing with the Blade and whether he was getting enough sleep. He didn’t know that he…

Anyway.

Keith had been integrated back into team Voltron, although he would still do the occasional Blade mission when required. The transition was made ironically easier when Shiro went out of commission. It was a mission gone wrong, putting Shiro in the care unit for two months and Black in need of a pilot. Keith, ever the stubborn mullet-head, had refused to take over the role of Black Paladin, again. But the war waits for no-one.

By the time Shiro recovered, Keith was piloting Black and had resumed his role as leader, Lance helping whenever he could. They’d grown closer over that time. They learned to trust each other, to communicate. The rivalry was dropped and instead replaced by comradery, friendship, something… _more._ Lance couldn’t really explain it. He’d given up trying a long time ago.

So, there they were, the mighty team Voltron, all half asleep and rumpled in the only way a terrible night’s sleep could produce. Pidge kept nodding off in-between bites of their food-goo while Hunk was out-right snoring, his head pillowed in the crooks of his arms. Allura’s usually fluffy silver hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, several bushy clumps in need of a good brushing, Coran and Shiro had matching pairs of puffy purple eye-bags and Lance hadn’t even bothered looking in the mirror this morning. He knew he’d let himself go. There wasn’t time for his usual skin routine these days, so he’d dumbed it down to a simple wash and moisturize, with the occasional face mask when he had some rare down-time.

“Coraaaan,” Pidge yawned, “What date is it?”

Coran scrolled through his tablet, his eyes blinking heavily as he squinted down at the screen. “Well, in terms of Altea it’s the fifth quintent of the sentorium.”

At Pidge’s flat look Coran continued with, “And by Earth standards its February fourteenth.”

“Valentine’s Day?” Hunk said, his voice muffled.

“What is Falensines day?” Allura said, her nose scrunching in that way it always did when she learnt something new about Earth.

“Valentine’s Day, Princess,” Shiro said with a chuckle. “It’s a holiday, where you celebrate the people you love.”

“AKA, it's mushy and gross and only meant for people who are actually interested in other people,” Pidge grumbled into their food-goo.

Allura tilted her head in thought. “So, like Kaérlighæd?”

Everyone, minus Coran, turned a confused look Allura’s way. Allura blushed. “It’s an Altean holiday. Romantic partners get together and celebrate their time spent together, whether it be years or days. It’s quite a big event, although very exclusive.”

Pidge shook their head. “Even aliens,” they sighed.

“Funny how so many things are universal in the, well, universe,” Hunk said. He looked a little more alert now, having awoken from his catnap and eaten most of his food-goo.

Allura perked up. “So perhaps you have something alike to Fatkeqæsî?”

“What’s that?” Shiro asked although he looked a little hesitant.

“Well, now that’s a story and a half!” Coran said. His moustache seemed to quiver with enthusiasm. “Let’s start at the beginning. There was an Altean who –”

Thankfully, they were all saved from another long-winded Altean history lesson by Keith who stormed through the sliding door. He was clutching something in his hand and his face was so scrunched up, it looked like he’d sucked an entire lemon.

“Who did this?!” he growled.

“Did what?” Hunk asked.

Keith raised his hand, flapping about a piece of pink paper that looked distinctly heart-shaped.

_Oh shit._

“What is that?” Pidge said, looking very much awake as they tried to make a grab for it.

Lance knew exactly what that was. He knew because he made it. It was a stupid idea. He’d known Valentine’s Day was coming up and he’d been missing Earth more than usual and he just wanted to make a good old-fashioned Valentine’s card because why not? But then when he’d started writing the note… well. Let’s just say he only realised half-way through that he was writing about a certain mullet-brain.

He thought he’d thrown it away rather inconspicuously. Obviously not if Hunk’s smug smile had anything to do with it.

Keith hiked the card up out of Pidge’s reach. He didn’t look angry so much as embarrassed now. The tip of his nose turned pink, his shoulders pinched all the way up to his reddening ears.

“It’s a note,” he said.

“And?” Shiro prompted.

“And… it doesn’t make sense,” Keith huffed.

“Well read it aloud, maybe we can help you?” Shiro offered.

“No!” Keith said. He ducked his head, hiding behind his bangs. “Its… private.” Keith clutched the card to his chest, almost protectively.

“Then why ask for help if you’re not gonna share any of the goods?” Pidge grumbled, having given up on trying to snatch the card from Keith.

“Because! I –” Keith hesitated. “Imanahghoodwizdisshuff.”

“Come again?” Coran said, actually cupping his ear like a cartoon character.

Keith sighed. “I said – I’m not good with this stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” Allura said, rolling her eyes.

“…Romantic stuff.”

Pidge immediately made another attempt at grabbing the card from Keith. (Lance had to resist the urge to grab it himself before they could. There was no way he was going to let that gremlin read his soppy note. He’d never hear the end of it.)

“Gimmie gimmie gimmie! I need to see this!” Pidge said.

“I thought you didn’t like courting rituals?” Allura asked in confusion.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t like gossip,” Pidge retorted.

Keith stepped well out of their reach, which happened to put him directly behind Lance.

Hunk grinned. Sending a very unsubtle look Lance’s way, he said, “Lance is really good with this sort of thing. Maybe ask him.”

Lance glared at Hunk, sending the words _You are dead to me_ telepathically along with several knife emojis. Obviously, they were playing broken telephone because Hunk’s grin only broadened.

Keith snorted, although Lance could tell it was good-natured. “No way.”

Lance turned in his seat, looking up at Keith in mock disbelief. “Excuse you, I happened to be the best Valentine all through middle school! And during the Garrison! Not that you noticed,” he said, giving a dramatic sniff as he stuck his nose in the air.

“Why would I need to notice?” Keith whispered.

Lance faltered. “Uh, well, um. That’s a very good question, um –”

“Ah ha!” Pidge exclaimed.

Pidge, using Keith and Lance’s conversation as a distraction, managed to snipe Keith’s Valentine’s card out from under his nose. They were already on the opposite side of the room when they began to read aloud.

“NO!” Keith and Lance yelled in unison.

They locked eyes. Keith with a look of confusion and Lance with what he could only imagine was a look of pure terror.

“Why not?” Keith said.

“I –”

“ _To who this befalls upon_ ,” Pidge began.

"Wow. Classic."

“Pidge!” Keith started running around the table, only for Pidge to run in the same direction, remaining well out of reach while continuing to read Lance’s very, _very_ embarrassing Valentine’s card.

“ _I don’t really know when all of this started. Maybe it was when I saw you get something right for the first time, and that look in your eye when you’d realised what you’d accomplished._ ”

“Pidge –”

Now Lance was running too. In another scenario, it might have been comical, a cat and mouse chase scene. But this was Lance’s heart on the line, his and Keith’s partnership. If he fucked their friendship, hell, _Voltron_ , up, because of some stupid, spontaneously irrationally made Valentine’s card? Then he was officially screwed and might as well show himself out through the airlock.

“ _Maybe it was because I admired your bravery, how you didn’t let anyone push you around. Maybe it was because even if you looked like a lone wolf, all tough and independent, I knew you were probably just as lonely as I was._ ”

Pidge stopped in their tracks. Keith did the same, causing Lance to bump into him from behind. Everyone went silent, all looking to Pidge who was staring down at the note. They continued, their voice softer, breathy.

“ _Maybe it was because I never thought I could be better than you, only for you to show me that I didn’t need to be to be the best me. I don’t know if that makes sense? Probably not._ ”

Lance heard Keith breathe in a soft gasp. He already knew what was coming. They both did.

“ _But I guess when you start liking someone, logic goes out the window. Usually, I’m better at this kind of stuff but with you…_ ” Pidge sniffled. “ _With you, I don’t feel like I have to put on a show. I feel like I can let go of the happy-face mask and just be real for once._ ”

 _No,_ Lance thought, panic starting to set in. _No, no. They can’t hear this, no one was supposed to hear this they can’t –_

“ _You may not realise it, but you’re grounding. I don’t really know how else to explain it. You help me step out of my head and stop worrying just like how I help you when things start to get frustrating. We –_ ”

“Stop!”

Lance ripped the card out of Pidge’s hand, scrunching it in the process. He was standing on the table – it being the quickest route to reaching Pidge – one foot in a bowl of food-goo, the other barely missing stepping on Hunk’s face.

“Just, stop,” Lance said. “Please.”

“Lance?”

Lance turned to find a very confused Keith. He looked adorable, with his nose scrunched a little, his head tilted slightly. But it just wasn’t the right timing.

_Not like this. It wasn’t supposed to be like this._

“I –” Lance stammered. His chest was rising and falling in quick succession, the panic and the stress and anxiety all rolling into one big knot that refused to let him breathe. “I’m sorry,” he finally said.

“Why are you sorry?” Keith said, shaking his head. “Lance, I don’t understand, it’s not like –”

And then it clicked.

Lance saw as the pieces fell together, that eureka moment flashing across Keith’s eyes.

_That look in your eye._

“You? –”

Lance nodded. There was no point in denying it.

“Yeah… surprise?”

The joke fell flat, shrivelling in on itself. Just like Lance’s self-confidence. Stars, he was so out of his element right now. Yeah, he’d made a fool of himself in front of girls and in front of the others but usually, it was funny, an anecdote for later down the line; another goofball Lance story. But not this. This was a whole new level of foolishness.

Lance couldn’t look anyone in the eye. Not Hunk, or Allura. Especially not Keith.

_I’m an idiot. I’m such a fucking idiot._

Lance stepped off the table, landing next to Keith. He stopped, meeting Keith’s eyes as he whispered, “I’m sorry,” before walking out the door.

 

***

 

Lance was walking. Where he had no idea. When it came to arguments and the need for headspace and alone time, the Castle Ship was not Lance’s (or anybody’s for that matter) first choice. There were only so many places you could hide, and by now everyone knew the ship inside and out. So, Lance figured, the only way not to be found is to keep walking. Although that didn’t stop his brain from over-thinking everything.

_Idiot idiot idiot. You fucking idiot. Look what you’ve done. You’ve ruined everything, Voltron is never going to work again, Red is going to reject you, the team is going to reject you. Keith is going to reject you._

No. He already has.

“Lance!”

Lance walked faster.

“Lance, stop!”

Lance was about to start running for his life when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Lance turned around, shrugging it off along the way.

“No, Keith! I’m not doing this!”

Keith stood before him, panting having run after Lance. Somewhere along the way, his hair had come loose. Lance growled at himself from wanting to touch it.

“Doing what?” Keith said, breathless. “Leaving me anonymous letters? Making me confused out of my mind about whether this is some kind of prank? Because I’ve had that before, okay. I didn’t appreciate it then, and I really, really won’t appreciate it now.”

Lance stood there, unable to speak.

“I’ve never understood this stuff, okay?" Keith continued, wobbly-voiced. "So, if this is some kind of cruel joke then I’m… I’m –”

“It’s not a joke.”

“I…What?”

“It’s not a joke,” Lance repeated, voice whispery and weak. But he needed to say this. Keith needed to hear this. “I never would have written that stuff if I wasn’t one hundred percent certain that’s how I felt,” Lance said. Because it was true. He didn’t realise it at the time but… he meant it. All of it. Every single word.

“I meant every single word,” he said, rubbing his neck, scuffing his shoe, looking anywhere but at Keith. “I… I like you, Keith. A lot. And, I know that it’ll jeopardize the team, but, I mean. It’s just a crush, I promise. I’ll… I’ll get it over it. I didn’t even mean to send that to you! I was just being stupid and… We can pretend this never happened.”

Silence. Then,

“I don’t want to.”

Lance looked up, finally meeting Keith’s eyes. “What?”

Keith blinked slowly, like a cat. “I… I don’t want to pretend. That this never happened.”

“Why?” Lance said, incredulous. “Did you not just experience the same thing I did? Because last I checked, having a personal letter read out loud in front of all of your friends is kinda the breaking point on the Richter scale of embarrassment!” Lance didn’t know why he was yelling.

_Because you’re angry._

Yeah, he was angry. Angry at Pidge for reading out his letter, angry at Hunk for meddling, angry at Allura and Coran and Shiro for sitting there and doing nothing. Angry at himself for ever thinking this was a possibility, that Keith could ever maybe like him back, even just a smidge.

_Stupid. You are so stupid._

“So what?” Keith said.

Lance felt his jaw drop all the way to the floor. “So what? _So what_? Keith, I was just humiliated in front of everyone because you couldn’t read in-between lines!”

“Well maybe if you’d just bothered to sign the damn letter in the first place –”

“I was never going to give it to you in the first place!”

“But I wanted you to!”

Lance stopped working. His brain fizzled out, needed time to reboot because _what???_

“I wanted you to,” Keith said. He licked his lips. “I didn’t realise I did until… well, until you did. I’m kinda stupid like that.”

“You’re not stupid,” Lance found himself saying. “You just think differently. You have different priorities.”

“Well, I feel kinda stupid after all –” Keith waved his arms about, “that.”

Lance chuckled, a soft breath of air. “How do you think I feel?”

Keith huffed, but it sounded more like a breath of relief than anything. “Yeah,” he said, running his hand through his hair. “I don’t think Pidge is going to let either us of forget this anytime soon.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they managed to catch it on camera somehow,” Lance said. “Ya know, like one of those prank cams? ‘You’re on TV!’”

Keith winced. “I don’t, actually.”

Lance chuckled, a real one this time. “It’s okay Mullet. I’ll still like you, even if you don’t get references.”

“Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Like me?”

Lance deadpanned. “Keith,” he said, incredulous. “I literally just said I did five minutes ago. I wrote you an anonymous Valentine’s card!”

“Yeah, but –”

Lance sighed. “But what?”

“No one’s ever liked me before.”

“What?”

Keith shrugged. “No one’s ever liked me before,” he said. “I mean, it didn’t really bother me. Like you said, I think differently. I don’t know… It’s no big deal, I had other stuff to focus on anyway. But, I’ve noticed, spending time with you and Hunk and Pidge, that I’ve missed out on a lot of things. And I don’t think I’ll ever really be able to get them back. But, yeah I just… no one’s ever liked me so I don’t really know how to tell and –”

Lance stepped closer, giving Keith’s foot a little nudge with his own. “Keith?” he said, ducking to try catch Keith’s eyes.

“Yeah?” he said, looking up at Lance through his eyelashes.

“I like you. A lot. For a while now.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“… Hey Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you read it to me?”

“Read what?”

“The rest of your letter?” Keith said. His bit his bottom lip, nose turning pink. “Pidge did an okay job but, now that I know it’s from you…”

Lance gasped, placing a hand over his heart. “Keith, I'm shocked. Deep down, you’re a true romantic.”

“Shut up and read,” Keith said, giving Lance a light elbow to the ribs. “That is if you want?”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

Somehow, he still had the card in his hand, although it was a little worse for wear now after all the rough handling.

Lance cracked it open, trying to hold it steady. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

He cleared his throat. “Ahem. Uh, okay, where were we?”

“You help me step out of my head and stop worrying just like how I help you when things start to get frustrating,” Keith said, without fault.

Lance’s mouth went slack.

Keith ducked behind his bangs. “I may have read it more than once…”

“You think?” Although Lance was beaming.

“Just, read it, please?”

“Okay, okay. Uh, right.”

_Breathe, breathe. He’s already read this, more than once apparently, just breathe. You’ve got this. You’ve got this._

“ _We work. It’s as simple as that. I like that we’re complete opposites. I like that we can agree to disagree. I like that, somehow, we balance each other out but also manage to push each other in the right direction. I like us. I like you. I like you a lot, actually. Took me long enough, I guess. Sincerely yours,_ ”

“Lance,” Keith said.

“Yeah?” Lance whispered, peeking over the top of the card.

“The feeling’s mutual.”

“…”

“…”

Lance laughed. He full on belly laughed.

“Keith!”

“What?!” Keith exclaimed.

“Wow. Just, wow.”

“Hey, I just told you that I liked you!”

“Yeah, but the way you said it!”

“I said the feeling’s mutual! What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” Lance giggled, coming down from his laughing high. “Nothing at all.”

“Good,” Keith pouted, blowing a piece of his bangs out of his eyes. “Cause I mean it. I like you too.”

Lance took that in for a second. Then two. Then three.

Keith was starting to look at him funny. Lance should probably say something but he’s still kinda processing all of this.

“Lance?”

_He likes me._

“Lance? Say something.”

 _He_ likes _me…_

“Lance…”

“Can I kiss you?”

Keith blinked, eyes widening. His cheeks blushed pink.

“Wh-what?”

“Can I kiss you?” Lance said, slow and soft, just for them. Just for Keith.

“Ye-yeah. Yes. Yes, I’d like that.”

“Okay.”

They both hesitated. They both leaned in. They both smiled as their lips brushed.

It was soft and sweet and nothing like the frantic make-out sessions Lance used to have behind the school with his two-week-long girlfriends. It was nothing like his first kiss with some guy at the Garrison who looked awfully a lot like a certain mullet-head. It wasn’t like the millions of make-believe scenarios he’d dreamed of, the rough, sexy kind of kiss you only see in movies. No. This was better. So much better.

Lance brought his hands up, cupping Keith’s cheeks. He still had the card in his hand. (He tried his best not to squish it even more but, honestly, it was kind of inevitable.) Keith hummed into his mouth. It tickled. They both laughed, both leaned in again, both sighed into the kiss. Lance felt two shaky hands wraps loosely around his waist.

_Keith’s never done this before._

Lance stepped a little closer, leaving just an inch between them, before guiding Keith’s arms around his hips. Keith faltered a little.

“Am I doing this right?” he whispered.

Lance nodded, couldn’t hold back his grin as their noses bumped. “You’re doing more than alright.”

Keith mock-gasped. “A compliment? From _the_ Lance? Now I know I’m dreaming.”

“Shut up.”

“Make me?”

Lance made a side-note in the back of his mind to chew out/thank Hunk and Pidge later. But right now… right now he was kissing Keith. And that was pretty nice.

 

§

 

Lance smiled at the memory. He truly was an idiot.

“Keith?”

Keith didn’t look up. He kept his chin tucked to his chest, hiding behind his bangs.

Lance sighed.

_What am I going to do with you?_

“Keith,” he said again, gently tilting Keith’s face up with a finger under his chin. Indigo eyes blinked up at him, full of agitation and worry and a hint of anger that Lance knew wasn’t aimed at himself. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because this,” Lance gestured with his free arm, “is amazing. Its… I’ll admit it’s not very Keith.” They both chuckled, Keith’s lips twitching in a nearly-there smile. “So, I was a little caught off guard.”

Keith shrugged. “I just wanted it to be special,” he said. “I know that I’m not very… out there, when it comes to romancey stuff.”

“I don’t think that’s a word,” Lance smirked.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lance said, bopping Keith on the nose.

“So, I wanted to put in the effort,” Keith said, “Show you that I do care, even if most of the time it doesn’t look like I do.”

Lance melted a little. Okay, a lot.

“Keith? Babe? I know that you care.”

“But I don’t say it enough. I don't do big romantic gestures. I –”

“Because that’s not how you communicate. You talk in little touches,” Lance said. “Like, when we link pinkies under the table? Or when you put your hand on my back because you know I need a little grounding. You’re always there for me. Just like how I’m always gonna be here for you.” Lance leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together lightly. “It doesn’t matter that you’re not over-the-top. I’ve over-the-top enough for three people.”

Keith huffed a laugh. He was smiling properly now, that sideways smile that was reserved just for them. Just for Lance.

“And I love that you tried. And, just between us, I think you’ve out-romanced me for once.”

Keith scoffed, pulling his head back. “Okay, now I know you’re lying.”

Lance shook his head. “Just, give me a minute, I’ll be right back.”

Before Keith could argue, Lance was running out the observatory and back through the flower-petal meadow into his room.

“Where are you, where are you, where are – ah ha!” Lance finally found what he was looking for after scrounging through his many drawers of clothes. (He’d hidden Keith’s gift as far back as possible, seeing as Keith ended up borrowing Lance’s shirts more often than not.)

Lance contemplated changing into his outfit he’d picked out for the day then decided against it. Keith had already seen him in his sweats and messy T-shirt, and, like Keith had said many, many times before, _I think you look pretty in anything_. Lance was going to take Keith’s word for it.

Lance sprinted back to the observatory, not wanting to leave Keith hanging. When he came rushing through the door, he found Keith where he’d left him, although his plate had been relieved of at least three shark-shaped pancakes.

Lance slowed down, tucking his gift behind his back.

“Sorry,” he said, as he sat back down next to Keith, “I had trouble finding it.”

“You didn’t have to get me anythi-”

“Here,” Lance said, shoving his gift into Keith’s hands.

Keith looked down at the small gift box.

“Well, don’t just stare at it,” Lance laughed nervously, “Open it.”

Keith complied, untying the red ribbon and laying it gently on the table before opening the sleek black box. Inside was a small ovular object, the size of a skipping stone. Keith picked it up, inspecting it. It was a deep indigo purple, the same colour as Keith’s eyes. Its white accents shone in the starlight.

“What is it?” he asked with a grin.

Lance bit his lip. “There’s a little button on the side.”

Keith looked to where Lance pointed and, with a nod from Lance, pressed the button.

Immediately, a beam of purple light shot out from the stone, opening up like a fan. And then, an image came into focus.

Lance was busy laughing in the foreground as Keith was bombarded by Arusians, all of them wanting a hug from the stoic paladin. Lance remembered that moment well. It was the first time he'd every taken a picture with Keith, even if it was unknowingly on Keith's part.

After a few seconds, the image faded and another showed. Keith and Lance busy sharing a look, something fond passing between them as Hunk spoke about something animatedly just out of the frame.

The picture faded, followed by another.

Keith and Lance having a water fight in the Altean pool. Keith and Lance looking a little uncomfortable wearing their Altean get-up for a ball that was held recently in their honour, followed by a slightly blurry picture of them slow dancing on the crowded dance floor. Keith getting a surprise kiss on the cheek from Lance in a selfie. Lance with a glob of frosting on his nose as Keith stands to the side, looking rather pleased with himself even though he’s covered in flour. Keith and Lance playing video games, both having absolutely _beautiful_ close-ups of their ‘concentration faces’: Keith’s nose scrunched up, Lance’s tongue peeking out between his lips.

“Lance… I –”

“I know you don’t like over the top stuff, so I wanted to give you something small. Just for you. Pidge and Hunk helped make it but you and I are only ones who’ve seen the pictures.” Lance shrugged, not really knowing what else to say.

Keith shared a look with Lance before turning his attention back to the photos. The album was nearly done (saving the universe didn't lend a lot of time to take photos, although Lance could always upload more pictures later). But there was one last thing Keith needed to see.

As the final picture faded out, a small pink heart came into view, expanding until it was roughly the size of one’s palm. It opened up like a card and inside it read:

_Be My Valentine?_

Keith chuckled, pressing the button to close the projector. He placed the album back in its box before shuffling his chair around the table so he was closer to Lance. He kissed Lance on the cheek.

“Yes,” he said.

“Oh thank the stars,” Lance said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind Keith’s ear. “Would have been kinda awkward if you said no.”

“Shut up,” Keith said with a smile.

“Make me,” Lance replied.

Keith grinned before leaning in and kissing Lance soundly on the mouth.

“Happy Valentine’s slash one year anniversary,” Keith said against Lance’s mouth.

“Happy Valaversary to you too.”

“Lance, oh my god!”

“What! It works!”

Keith shook his head. “Only you.”

Lance shrugged, grinning like an idiot. A happy in love idiot.

“What can I say? You can really pick 'em.”

“Damn right I can.”

Their pancakes went cold, but Lance thought it a worthy sacrifice. Nothing, not even shark-shaped pancakes, could ever top kissing Keith.

**Author's Note:**

> Kay, so, just re-read this and found a few very embarrassing grammatical/spelling errors which have now, hopefully, been dealt with. If anyone spots something off please feel free to let me know in the comments so I can fix it!


End file.
